


Into the Many Worlds

by Protonymic



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 05:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20465966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Protonymic/pseuds/Protonymic
Summary: Ada is unlike many trainers of the age. She holds dreams of journeying by foot the world of the Three Realms, a greater region teeming with life, whose magnificence manifests most brilliantly in the form of Pokemon. While most have given up and see no value, she lusts for adventures in the jungle, odysseys across the seas, wonders amidst the deserts. Her dreams are shared by her party, most prominently Violet, the Bulbasaur that joined as her first. It will not be easy nor will it be without suffering, but Ada is determined to see the foolish dream of hers to a happy ending. Follows an original setting.





	Into the Many Worlds

The young trainer walked amongst the worlds, growing with each step she took. In the first realm, she partook in the fruit of the lush forests of the Evergreen and descended south from snowy woods to rolling plains of wheat. Her Bulbasaur, first of her partners, accompanied her as she walked to and through cities of light and smog. She then had to cut her way through dense jungle, teeming with danger, before at last she reached the southern sea as a river reaches its end.

Then the young trainer sailed. She sailed to the nexus amongst islands to drink the waters of the second realm. Spirit clear, she sought to hone herself sailing across violent storms to the temples of the seas. In training her body by combat and spirit by connecting with her comrades and the world around her, she would return to land made anew.

The young trainer left the sea to the fiery plains. The flames of the volcano would cleanse her for her pilgrimage. Crossing cities that defiantly stood amidst scorching desert, she would wander the desert seeking hidden wisdom before climbing the peaks to breathe deep the air of the third realm. She, however, was not yet complete. Nor had she even started.

Ada awoke to the rays of the morning sun shining through the entrance to her tent. She rubbed her eyes, groaning as she loosened herself from her sleeping bag. She turned to see the culprit laying on the grass just outside, a Bulbasaur quietly soaking up the first rays of the day.

“Violet. Well, at least one of us is actually having a breakfast, huh?” Ada murmured as she dug through her backpack. She hadn’t been nearly as prepared for a Pokemon journey as she thought. Her food was down to a few slices of bread, and her water would only last till the evening in this hot climate. What was she thinking, being so short on supplies? What a poor to start to what she wanted to be an emulation of the pilgrimages trainers in the old days would make. The Bulbasaur looked at her, concerned, but Ada brushed it off.

“No worries, Violet. I’ll... find some berries. Or do, uh, what we discussed. But water’s going to be more difficult. We don’t have any more purification tablets and our filter broke. I don’t know if we can find anything but stagnant pondwater for a while, so don’t photosynthesize too much, yes? Get in your ball in 15 minutes. Maybe we can find a rest stop somewhere…” Violet the Bulbasaur, however, knew her trainer better than anyone else. They had spent years together since they met and dreamt of travelling the world together as Pokemon and trainer. They shared an understanding, a connection that could only exist between such a pairing. Now that they were finally on the road, though, things were off to a bumpy start. If only she’d found some edible plants sooner, or spent the hike up till now sniffing for the scent of a clean river. She stayed motionless, only moving her eyes to gaze at her trainer, the black-haired girl in obviously new hiking gear.

“Violet. Relax. We’ll figure something out. On foot, we can expect to reach Dervor Town by the afternoon. Accounting for a slower pace, though, that’s probably going to take till after sundown.” Ada chewed her remaining bread slices as studied a map dotted with small notes, her places of interest being where she might find rare plants or Pokemon. “The moment I finish packing up this tent, you get back in your ball. I’m going to need you to save your strength to save me if we get attacked, alright?”

Violet wanted to object, but knew the same deep down. It was up to her as the Pokemon to defend them both from wild ambushes. She took time to stretch her vines out to lengths not allowed by the confines of the city she hailed from. She felt the edge of a canteen on her mouth, she was made to drink from the same canteen her trainer used. Not a novel experience to many, for sure, but laying her vines upon the grass amidst the foothills and being watered was a pleasure, simple and elegant.

All too soon, the trainer had finished packing and recalled the Bulbasaur. Her back was once more heavy with the weight of her gear, psyche burdened by the weight of her task. Her boots, not yet fully broken in, were stiff against her feet as she once more hiked down the southward road. Yet in the presence of unbound nature her fears were temporarily allayed as she trudged upon the dirt road. To her right, dense rainforest, the scent of wood and soil amidst a thick layer of life unique, new, rejuvenating. To her left, a sparse plain on a slight slope downhill and bordered with yet more trees. The cries of pokemon resounded everywhere. Kriketune that found any silence an obscene gesture that had to be quashed with more chirping. The soft, ever-present rustle of foragers. When the sun rose over her head at noon, she caught a glimpse of a Caterpie crawling on a branch. Ada had only time to admire its antennae before it vanished. She looked up to see it squirming in the talons of a Pidgeotto, flying towards its nest to celebrate a lucky hunt.

“Did you see that, Violet? Cool, huh?”

How convenient it is to have food ready to eat just like that, Ada thought, as by noon she sat her packs by a rock along the road and ate what was left of her bread. Violet got to stretch her feet again and soak up noon rays, flavoured with more spice than soft morning sunlight. Her bulb was getting nice and full, though she had doubts that she could use it to power a strong attack just yet. Relevant, as she heard approaching footsteps.

“No, no, go away. This is mine.” Ada faced a Bidoof which had snuck up on her as she held food and drink. It stared at her with beady eyes, its nose twitching from the scent of ham and cheese. This was not the docile wild Pokemon of a city park, and Ada could tell from how it did not continue to beg, but growled and bared its well-honed teeth.  
“Aaah!”

Ada cried out as she fell backwards to avoid a lunge, keeping her precious meal in her hands. Though her lunch was safe, she felt the cool contents of her bottle seeping into her shirt. She wouldn’t be able to stand up before the Bidoof attacked her again…

Violet had been on guard for this moment. She leapt between trainer and aggressor, finally getting to live a moment she had been dreaming of. Her vines at the ready, the Bulbasaur glared at the Bidoof, looking as menacing as she could.

“Violet! Right, uhm… vine whip it!”

The Bidoof charged right into Violet’s extended vines, which beat into its hide even as it struck Violet. She clenched. Though she’d had been through practice fights, a wild Pokemon fighting for its survival was a different game.

“Leech! Leech seed!”

Ada did her best to calm herself and do her duty as a trainer. She had to oversee the battle and figure out the best way forward. Luckily, the solution here was obvious. The Bidoof was unlikely to have many tricks up its sleeve. It was likely only to know how to hit and bite, so she had to tire it down. Simple, right?

The Bulbasaur shot out a seed from its bulb that nestled itself in the Bidoof’s coat. It sprouted, quickly digging into its skin with its shoot. The Bidoof bared its teeth, and while Violet smiled at her successful attack, she missed the bite coming for her.

“Baaah!” She cried out. Looking down, she saw small splatters of red. She didn’t know what that attack was called, as only Ada among them knew that it was a Hyper Fang, one that hit struck critical.

“No, Violet! Whip it back!” The Bidoof seemed to smile, teeth splattered in blood. Violet gasped as she bore down with vines, and the snaps that resounded indicated that it was hit hard enough to be driven off. It was the brown rodent’s turn to gasp, as the seed on its back began to pulse, and it felt energy being sapped right from it and into the Seed Pokemon. Already Violet felt invigorated, the pain of her wound dulling as she drank from her opponent. Next…

“Powder it down! Sleep powder!” On her trainer’s cue, she knew to spit a burst of spores from her bulb. Its target breathed them in, unfamiliar with such an attack, and in seconds lost its sure-footing, stumbling around in drowsiness. “Alright. Wait, Violet.” They’d won at this point, and to supplement their energy reserves, Violet needed to drink all she could. Both of them watched the ineffectual wild Pokemon flounder about. Violet could feel stamina return, and her trainer watched in relief, though just how this worked was a question that stayed in the back of her head. Too soon for them, the seed fell off and the Bidoof broke out of its trance. Soundly defeated, it fled back into the underbrush.

“Good job, Violet! Let’s get that looked at.” Ada already had a potion spray in her hands as she pet her Bulbasaur. While the wound on her green skin was bloodied, it was by no means serious. A Pokemon properly treated would be fine the next day. Violet sighed as she felt the brief sting of the topical medicine before being overwhelmed by a cooling sensation on the site, and through her trainer’s words of praise.

That didn’t solve their next problem. The spilling of Ada’s canteen meant that she was now completely out of water. A hike while dehydrated would significantly slow them down, exacerbating their situation. She sat back down, looking at her emptied canteen, and racked her brain for solutions. She could find a river if she hiked into the rainforest, but there would be no guarantee she’d make it through a strong Pokemon. And if she did, then what? She could rig up a makeshift still for purification, but not in enough volume fast enough. She ran her hand across her straight dark hair made glossy by sweat. She could radio for help, but calling a ranger on her first route? What a terrible way to start.

“Saah?” Violet prodded her leg softly. Ada was so deep in thought that it was enough to evoke a jump. “Tsk... hey, thanks for your concern. I’m not sure if you have any ideas..?” She looked up to see a pair of green-uniformed figures atop large, horned Pokemon. Atop the Gogoats were Rangers on patrol. Seated on saddles and holding their mounts by reigns, with plenty of room for bags of gear, they were icons of preparedness. Clearly, Ada could not match up to them.

“Hey! How’s it going? Travelling trainer, huh?” The lady among the pair called out to her with a friendly wave. Ada had to take a few seconds to answer.

“Not too good! I’m headed to Dervor Town, but I’m out of water. Don’t suppose you could spare?”

“We’d like to, but we’re low ourselves! We’re just finishing up our patrol, so why don’t we give you a lift?” The gentleman answered.

“Uh… alright! Thanks a lot!”

Not the worst that could happen, Ada thought, as she grabbed her pack and dragged it along to where the rangers waited. But not ideal.  
“Leave your bag with him! So where are you from?” The Rangers asked many questions as part of procedure to make sure their ward was conscious enough to not need medical attention, but out of genuine curiosity.

“Petrotown. Guess you could tell I’m a city girl, huh? I didn’t hike all the way there, I took the train one city closer, to Lanobe City, before trying to rough it out.”

“Cool, cool. So you want to try some gyms… or they call them Trials now, don’t they? How many? Three, four?”

“All of them, actually.”

“WHAT?” Both Rangers exclaimed in shock. “That’s seventeen of them!”

“Yes, the last person who asked reacted that way too!” Ada knew that reaction was coming. “But I really want to try it. Walking the Three Realms like the old pilgrims, roughing it with my Pokemon. I mean… yeah, it’ll be tough. But I want to hike around the Grasslands here. And not just that, sail the Shards, then explore the Fire Plains. There’s just so much to see! I can’t just read about it in a book or see it on TV. I have to know.”

“The Three Realms are big places each, you know?” The man among them chuckled at the starry-eyed girl before him. And you’re saying you want to walk... or swim around all of them. That’s admirable, really. I can’t think of anyone who’s done that in a long time. I think our chief might like you! You’ll definitely want to meet him. He is the gym lead- Trial Leader of Dervor Town, after all.”

  
Trial Leaders, Ada thought. Trainers of exceptional skill that hold special titles in the society of the Three Realms they inhabited. And she’d have to fight one for her first badge.

“What’s he like? The trial?”

“Hope you like jungles! You’ll have to camp out with only the gear with give you. And don’t think about getting too tuckered out, because you’re only fighting Chief Imago after you spend two nights roughing it. And we’re not giving you much food or water either!”

“Oh, hey, don’t look so scared! There’s actually a survival course we rangers hold.” Ada’s eyes that widened with every word of that sentence finally relaxed. “It’ll teach you a lot you need to know for conducting such a grand adventure. In fact, we’ll drop you off at our headquarters and you can sign up for it tomorrow!”

By the hour, the greenery of jungle had given way to the concrete grey of city. Dervor Town, while somewhat small by the standards of the Grassland metropoleis, was by no means sleepy. From the vantage point of the road entering town, Ada could see a massive dock. Massive cranes and teams of pokemon unloaded container and container from ships hailing from different cities, all but a few to be loaded on trains for delivery to the rest of the Grasslands. By the practicality of the needs of trade ports, Dervor Town was plain about its periphery. The larger buildings were concrete and plain, built for purpose rather than aesthetic. But as the Gogoats brought Ada to the heart of town, amid busy commuters with their Pokemon, there was no mistaking Grassland identity in the gardens put wherever possible: be it small patches of soil along pavements, pots on balconies, or cultivating climbers amidst entire building faces. Notable was that none paid attention to the Combee flittering from flower to flower, even as they flew above busy restaurants and coffee shops serving the afternoon crowd. Ada could only gawk, and in the back of her head, wonder about the mechanics and algorithms by which they navigated town. Yet there was too a mix of the Shardian aesthetic, as many chose the cultivate water lilies for decoration, oft in houses built in the style of the Water Shards with their hip-and-gable roofs. Any of these further north would have looked like the site of a water shrine or monastery sorely lacking the scent of agarwood incense and meditation of monks, but here they housed only shopkeepers, bags of rice and other groceries assisted primarily by bug Pokemon.

“Here we are, miss. Joint Shard-Grassland Ranger command headquarters. Or just Dervor Ranger HQ. Time to knock off work, finally!”

Ada was broken from her spell by the cheer of the Rangers, and handed a bottle of water to drink to their coming break. She followed them into a large compound by the coast, where amidst the drab buildings was shed for boats ready to deploy to the sea if needed. But those were off limit to guests, her objective was reception. Knowing what this was about, Violet came out from her Pokeball, looking as mighty as she could.

  
“Violet! Alright, the moment we go through the doors, we walk like, uh, like in that movie. Okay? Be cool!”

The pair, in perfect sync, walked through the entrance into the reception lobby, where a lady at a desk watched a clearly-fresh pair of trainer and Pokemon do their best to hide their nerves behind their overly-stiff postures and glares. For her part, it would have been hard for most but Ada to tell how she felt, so Violet won out in concealment.

  
“Hi. I’m here to… challenge the trial? And there’s a survival... thing before that, right?”

“Yes! You can sign up for the open course which starts tomorrow morning and lasts overnight. Chief Imago will instruct you personally tomorrow, so you've come at a good time! He’ll be accepting challenges afterwards, but you might as well write in your application now.”

Challenging a Trial Leader varied depending on complexity. Some were more holed up in red tape, and needed multiple declarations that one was fit to undergo a Trial. Others were free to revel in the old ways and use their own judgment. Ada, fortunately, had read about this, and had documented proof that she was not about to drop dead. All that was left was to sign the official declaration of challenge. Her signature looked a little off, she thought, hand sweaty and shaking, but it would be fine, right?

“All in order. Come here tomorrow morning, Miss.”

Hasty thanks and a request for directions afterwards, Ada found herself in the lobby of a Pokemon Center. These were thankfully a staple of every town, and always situated near services a travelling trainer might need: cheap food and a cheap bed. Healing Pokemon aside, their useful services such as payphones were often used by travellers. Ada, Violet in her lap, made the call she needed.

  
“Ada! And Violet! You called earlier than I expected. Good hiking?”

Answering the videocall was a bespectacled man leaning against his chair. His messy hair and loose shirt belied the monitors displaying complex lines data around him. Adjusting his glasses and the camera, he smiled at his pupil as he unplugged his headphones from a music player and into the videophone. It took several seconds till the Slowking behind him broke its concentration on one of the monitors, and turned to wave at the camera.

“Professor Yew! And hello, Hawking!” She waved at the Slowking, who nodded and was back to examining data before she finished. “Not at all, I’m afraid. I got rescued by Rangers after I lost the last of my water. That filter brand you recommended? Didn’t work.”

Professor Xavier Yew. A researcher of Pokemon who made his name known for his work the on piezoelectric proteins of Pikachu and how they could be used to make better batteries. Since then, he has continued work on studying Pokemon systems and learning how they could be used to improve current technology. Ada met him as he came to give a talk in her school years ago, and after an argument about the safety of status powders as medication, came to intern under him.

“Really? Guess they don’t make them like the used to. So, you’ve reached your first destination! Let me give you my fullest congratulations.” The scientist beamed with pride in his protégé. “Now, I presume you’re going to be seeing that old man? Imago, was it?”

“You know him?”

“Well, not personally, but I fought him too! I keep telling you about my journey, didn’t I? Lemme just tell you again, I’m really glad you’re choosing to do this. You’ll make a lot of good memories and learn a lot. Definitely keep me updated. Back in my day, we had a lot more trainers going around on the Pilgrimage of the Three Realms. It’s fallen out of fashion, and that’s real shame!”

Journeying trainers were said to take after old ascetics who travelled around the known world on quests to gain strength, knowledge, wisdom, empathy, and other virtues that have been added or forgotten throughout the eras. The Three Realms was the name given to the collective world of three distinct regions: The lush Grasslands of the east stretching from the cold north to the humid south, the Water Shards as the tropical archipelago to the southwest, and the warm Fire Plains of the northwest. In the middle, as the capital of the realms, the Rising City, known for its dragon-revering culture that spread and unified the Realms. All this encompassed all that was known of their world.

“I can imagine. It was rough! Not that I’m complaining, but I was really unprepared. I’m going to learn from rangers, that should give me something to work with, right?”

  
“Oh yes, their techniques are extraordinary. If you’ll be challenging the bug guy right after, guess this is the last time I’m seeing you in a few days! I’ve got a team working on a special project, and I think it could use your help. We’ll make it public by the time you get back to civilisation. And Ada?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Enjoy yourself as much as you can. I know you might not be feeling the best right now.. or pretty soon, actually, but I promise you these will be some of the best times you’ll ever have.”  
The professor’s face fell as his smile turned wistful, eyes clouded by visions of nostalgia. Even his Slowking behind him paused, though Ada could not see what its face might have been.

“Sir… Mm. Don’t worry about it. I will. We will. Right, Violet?” Ada pet the seed Pokemon on the forehead, and it purred in her lap.


End file.
